The Gresham House (above, center), now known as the Bishop's Palace, escaped the devastating hurricane that hit Galveston in 1900, as seen in a September 8, 1900, photo.

More than 6,000 people were killed and 10,000 left homeless as the unnamed storm leveled entire neighborhoods.

Hurricane Ike--which is expected to slam into the Texas coast Friday night as a major hurricane--could produce a storm surge high enough to spill over the 17-foot (5.2-meter) seawall that was built after the 1900 hurricane.